Judge told them: ‘You were arrested and gave ludicrous accounts. The sheer stupidity of your accounts is reflected in the guilty pleas later’
A generic, file image of cannabis plants for illustrative purposes (Image: Getty Images)
Three men claimed they were decorators and cleaners when police raided a Barton home and found 100 cannabis plants, a court heard. The three Albanian illegal immigrants – all living in Hull at the time – later admitted producing cannabis at Church View in the town.
At Grimsby Crown Court, Judge Gurdial Singh said the haul of drugs found in the police raid was half of what had been produced as there was evidence of a previous crop and it would have been worth “tens of thousands of pounds” in profit.
A total of £440 in cash was also seized by police in the raid on January 9. Egeiano Metaj, 33, of Blenheim Street, Hull and Denis Doksani, 24 and Enriko Gystri, 23 of De Grey Street, Hull, admitted production of cannabis.
Prosecuting, Miss Celine Kart said police raided the two-bedroom property in Church View and found 50 mature plants in the loft. There was ducting, transformers and lighting equipment. She said the electricity to the property had been bypassed.
In the kitchen there were 50 smaller plants. The three men were in the living room and police seized mobile phones and iPads. But the defendant refused to disclose the access codes for the devices.
In interview Gystri said he was at the property to carry out cleaning. the other two said they were painter decorators.
Miss Kart said the haul was in excess of 5.5kg. Stuart Bell, mitigating for Metaj, Tim Savage for Doksani and Craig Lowe for Gystri confirmed their clients were in the UK illegally, having travelled from Albania.
Doksani had his application for asylum refused previously. Judge Singh said the operation was capable of producing cannabis for commercial gain. “They gave idiotic responses in interview.
“They knew exactly what they were letting themselves in for. They knew what the operation was. You were all there to tend to the valuable crop,” said the judge.
He added: “You were arrested and gave ludicrous accounts. The sheer stupidity of your accounts is reflected in the guilty pleas later.”
Judge Singh said: “It is a lesser role but a vital role in criminal activity. You were entrusted to look after a valuable crop. Without you the vast sums for those higher up the food chain, would not be realised. The haul is nearer to 10kg. You, having arrived in this country illegally, involved yourselves in this activity.
“This, like many courts, is inundated with cases like this whether it is Albanian, Vietnamese or people from other countries. People come here and get involved in the illegal production of drugs. Drugs are sold to others for money. It reeks havoc and causes misery on the streets of this country. The fact you came here illegally is a matter for the Home Office, not me.”
He jailed Metaj and Gystri for 13 months and Doksani for 14 months. He said the defendants would ordinarily serve half their sentence and be released at the half-way stage under supervision and licence. But due to their illegal status they are liable to detention on their release.
He ordered the destruction of the drugs and the growing equipment and said the cash seized will be donated to St Paul’s Boxing gym which has services in the Hull and Grimsby areas to help divert young people away from criminal activity.
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